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More than Comics Disappearing

What are the newspapers thinking? Sometimes their gloomy view of their approaching doom seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Some seem to believe that by cutting costs they can increase profitability. Great in theory as long as you dont depend on people actually buying your product.

Papers, across the country, are like restaurants that open with high expectations, great service and the best products. If they dont do as well as expected, they begin to cut costs. This always means a loss of quality in food, service or both. The public stays away in growing numbers as the death spiral reaches its ultimate conclusion on the hard ground of reality.

Most newspapers have made the calculation that there is no long-term future in staining dead trees with ink. Electrons on the Net is the agreed upon future. Fast, cheap to produce and can travel around the world millions of times before a log can be turned into newsprint. A survey out this week indicates that young people are not getting into the newspaper habit. So, its off to the Net.
The L.A. Old Gray Lady dropped the TV weekly mag, cut West from weekly to monthly, cut comics, let go valued columnists and moved the stocks to the Net. For some reason readership declined. Go know. Fewer readers were attracted to their inferior product. This is how things work in market economies.

Some papers have done even worse. One formerly mediocre newspaper has plumbed new depths of badness by laying off editorial staff, columnists and banishing actual news. While on vacation, I faithfully read this great citys poor newspaper faithfully and with blank incredulity. For three straight days there was not a single news story on the front page!

What a concept! How much money can a newspaper save by not doing the news? Instead the front page had features, sidebar stories about ongoing social issues, local happenings and human interest.

While it is true that newspapers cannot compete in speed with either TV or the Net (which will one day converge), they (okay, we) can provide context to the newsinternational, national and local.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! still applies. Newspapers are no longer headline services but provide richer and deeper understanding. This is the Read All About It part.

For example, yesterdays crash in Brazil is different on TV and in print. It is not just that the plane crashed, but why? What are the issues with the plane, the maintenance, the working conditions, the weather, the controllers, the repair of the runway, the urban setting of the airport? What do all these issues mean in terms of our airplanes and airports?

This is the meat of the newspaper business. It is also important to have appetizers (human interest), vegetables (crosswords) and dessert (sports & comics).

As a business model throwing away your loyal current customers in the hope that maybe a new generation will find you in a new medium, may not work out so well. And yes, to the implied question, I am aware of the irony of addressing this issue on the new medium.

Daily News editors: We are waiting for your response to the tidal wave of protests about the change in comics. You must return our regular stripts! AND, if you really want to appease your readership, then you should publish the back strips we’ve missed this week of the serialized Funky Winkerbean and For Better or Worse!

Mayrene Ryan

In addition to the change in comics, where did the NY Times Crossword Puzzle go?
If that is gone, I’m definitely cancelling my subscription!